The Sphinx in the Face - Live

Lyrics

[Spoken Intro] This is a nearly old Van der Graaf song that we're going to play, it's from The Quiet Zone / The Pleasure Dome, and it's called "The Sphinx in the Face" [Instrumental Intro] [Verse 1] I remember what it felt like at seventeen: I was a cat, a snake, a lizard, a mouse... Still got an interest in the limousine And a spouse and a brat Country house, London flat [Verse 2] I'm gonna head for the island when the summer's out I'm gonna do all the stuff that I can Drink like a fish in a waterspout - I'm a fan of the flow It began long ago I'm a man who really should know by now [?] It just doesn't stop [Break] [Accapella] [Break] [Verse 3] It's so much to rеmember And so much to forget: Wе're all in the possession of the future tense We just don't know it yet [Verse 4] And the flesh comes through the spirit And the spirit through the flesh... We look the Sphinx in the face for answers But, of course, we're not impressed [Verse 5] And we're caught between age and beauty Experience and youth So we feel the need acutely For any kind of Truth [Bridge] Oh, but we get copped some days Caught between options we've failed to play Such wasted chance So I join the wastrel's dance: It has slow as well as fast movements And any change must be an improvement On simply fossilizing, standing still [Instrumental] [Verse 6] I got a steady vocation for the Quiet Zone I just can't wait for the song to be sung I'm still possessed by the promise of the Pleasure Dome You're so young, you're so old You're so here, you're so gone Such a drag to be told You're so near, you're so wrong You're so young, you're so old You're so queer, you're so strong You're so, so young [Instrumental] [Outro] You're so young, you're so old [Spoken Outro] Thank you